Neck rest and shoulder support structure for physically handicapped patients

ABSTRACT

A frame structure which may form part of the back support of a wheel chair supports a U-shaped pad for cradling the rear and sides of a patient&#39;&#39;s neck. Right and left shoulder pad rolls in turn are coupled to the frame to extend on the right and left sides of the patient&#39;&#39;s lower neck portion over the shoulders respectively and thence downwardly and inwardly to gently engage the upper right and left chest areas of the patient to restrain him from pitching forward. The U-shaped neck cradling pad may be vertically, horizontally, and tiltably adjusted and the shoulder engaging pads may be swung outwardly and upwardly to provide easy access for a patient. The neck and shoulder support structure is particularly useful for cerebral palsy children.

United States Patent [191 Mulholland Oct. 9, 1973 NECK REST AND SHOULDERSUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PATIENTS PrimaryExaminer-Casmir A. Nunberg AttorneyPastoriza & Kelly [5 7] ABSTRACT Aframe structure which may form part of the back support of a wheel chairsupports a U-shaped pad for cradling the rear and sides of a patientsneck. Right and left shoulder pad rolls in turn are coupled to the frameto extend on the right and left sides of the patients lower neck portionover the shoulders respectively and thence downwardly and inwardly .togently engage the upper right and left chest areas of the patient torestrain him from pitching forward. The U- shaped neck cradling pad maybe vertically, horizontally, and tiltably adjusted and the shoulderengaging pads may be swung outwardly and upwardly to provide easy accessfor a patient. The neck and shoulder. support structure is particularlyuseful for cerebral palsy children.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures NECK REST AND SHOULDER SUPPORT STRUCTURE FORPHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PATIENTS This application is a continuation inpart of my co- 5 pending patent application Ser. No. 230,607 filed Mar.l, 1972, and entitled ADJUSTABLE CHAIR FOR CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL PALSY.

The present invention is primarily directed towards the neck rest andshoulder support structure disclosed l and claimed in combination with awheel chair in my abovereferred to co-pending patent application. Theparticular neck rest and shoulder support structure can be utilized withdifferent types of chairs from that disclosed in my co-pendingapplication and may be even 15 used independently of a chair forproviding specific support in the shoulder and neck area of a patient.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Children afflicted with cerebral palsy,hypotonic chil- 2 dren, and the like, often have poor neck and trunkmuscle control and may only be able to sit up and hold their heads erectfor short periods of time. Generally the children are forced to spendmuch of their time lying on thefloor which is good for development ofhead 25 this action tends to cause their bodies to slump into a 30scoliotic curve which may become permanent.

My heretofore mentioned co-pending patent application provides anadjustable chair with a neck rest and shoulder support superstructurewhich solves many of the problems heretofore encountered. The presentinvention, as noted, is specifically directed to this superstructureportion which is found to be highly useful either in combination withthe chair of my co-pending application, other chairs available on themarket, or even independently of a chair but in a position to provideproper neck and shoulder support for a patient such as might be the casewhen he is propped in a bed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 45 spectively and thencedownwardly and inwardly to 5 gently engage the upper right and leftchest areas of the patient to restrain him from pitching forward.

Neck rest adjusting means are provided to enable the -U-shaped pad to beadjusted vertically, horizontally and tiltably. In addition, shouldersupport adjusting means enable the right and left shoulder pad means to.be moved from in front of the patient to an open position to permit apatient to be easily removed from his supported position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 65 I A better understanding of theinvention will be had by referring to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. I is a fragmentary perspective view of the upper portion of a neckrest and shoulder support structure in accord with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross section taken in the direction of thearrows 2-2 of FIG. 1; and,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the structure showingan open position for the shoulder support portions of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG.I, there is shown a frame which may constitute part of the back supportof a wheel chair and when used in this manner, includes an horizontalhandle bar having down-turned end portions defining generally verticaland parallel guide rods 11 and 12. Clamping blocks 13 and 14 in turnsupport a cross rod 15 extending between the guide rods 11 and 12. Theclamping blocks 13 and 14 may include set screws or any other suitablemeans for clamping the block in selected vertical positions on the guiderods to thereby adjust the vertical distance of the cross rod 15.

Right and left tilt blocks 16 and 17 in turn are journaled on the crossrod 15 and serve to support a U- shaped neck pad 18 therebetween. Theneck pad 18 is designed to cradle the rear and sides of a patients neckand the pad is dimensioned so that it extends approximately from theinner top of the patients shoulders up to the ear lobes.

Cooperating with the neck rest U-shaped pad 18 are shoulder pad meansincluding enlarged, elongated right and left cylindrically shaped paddedrolls I9 and 20 secured to the outer ends of bent rods 21 and 22. Theinner ends of the rods 21 and 22 are journaled in the tilt blocks 16 and17. The arrangement is such that the padded rolls l9 and 20 will gentlyengage the right and left chest areas respectively of a patient when thepatients neck is cradled in the U-shaped neck pad 18. A canvas backing23 is shown extending between the guide rods 11 and 12 to support theupper back portion of the patient.

The tilt blocks 16 and 17 include neck rest adjusting means and alsocooperate with the innerends of the bent rods 21 and 22 for enablingadjustment of the positions of the chest engaging padded rolls l9 and20. These various adjustment means will now be described with referenceto FIG. 2. Since the adjustment of the block 16 and cooperating rightshoulder pad portions 19 and 21 are identical tothe adjustments providedby the left tilt block 17 and associated left shoulder pad means 20 and22, description of one will suffice for both.

Thus, referring specifically to FIG. 2, the inner rod end 21 isjournaled within the tilt block as shown and includes first and secondclamping collars 24 and 25 on either side of the tilt block. Acompression spring 26 is disposed between the clamping collar 24 andforward peripheral edge of the journal opening in the block 16. Thisspring normally urges the inner rod 21 to the right as viewed in FIG. 2or forwardly until the clamping collar 25 engages the rear peripheraledge opening of the journaling bore in the block [6. In FIG. 2, theinner rod end 21 is shown urged to the left against the force of thecompressions spring 26 to separate the clamping collar 25 from the rearof the block 16.

Cooperating indexing means are provided in the form of a smallprojection 27 on the peripheral edge of the rear opening of the journalin the block 16 arranged to mate with first or second indents 28 and 29circumferentially spaced on the clamp collar 25.

In FIG. 2 the cross rod can also be seen journaled through the tiltblock 16 at right angles to the journaling for the inner bent rod end21. The bore for rod 15 is split as shown and a simple screw knob 30 maybe provided to exert circumferential pressure on the rod and thus enableclamping of the tilt block 16 in any desired tilted position withrespect to the rod 15 as an axis as well as a desired horizontalposition along the rod.

FIG. 3 illustrates the manner in which the padded rolls l9 and normallyengaging the right and left chest portions of a patient may be swungoutwardly and upwardly to assume an open position thereby providing easyaccess for a patient. Essentially, the pad means rotate about axes A andB as shown in FIG. 1 so that the pads 19 and 20 on the bent portions canassume the dotted and solid line positions illustrated in FIG. 3. inthese respective positions, one or the other of the indexing indents 28or 29 of FIG. 2 will be received in the single projection 27 so that thepads are held in their set position by action of the compression spring26.

OPERATION Initially, the shoulder pad rolls l9 and 20 will be swungoutwardly and upwardly to the open position illustrated in FIG. 3. Apatient may then be positioned such that the neck pad 18 will properlycradle his neck in a manner to limit extreme ranges of motion to theside while allowing full rotational and forward flexion. Proper heightadjustment of the pad 18 can be effected by shifting the verticalposition of the clamping blocks 13 and 14 on the guide rods 11 and 12.Proper horizontal centering of the pad in turn is effected by shiftingthe tilt blocks 16 and 17 along the rod axis 15 and proper orientationor tilting of the pad can be effected by the tilting of the blocks 16and 17 about the rod 15 as an axis. When all adjustments are made, setscrews and tightening knobs are secured.

The shoulder pad rolls l9 and 20 may then be swung downwardly afterpulling the rods from the rear against the force of the compressionspring 26 to remove the indent from the projection and permit rotationof the inner ends of the bent rods. Alternatively, the shoulder pads maybe pushed from the front gently rearwardly to release the indexing meansand permit the rotation to take place. The shoulder pad rolls l9 and 20will then engage the right and left upper chest portions of the patientin a gentle padded manner. The patient with poor neck and head controlas well as trunk control is thus properly held and cannot pitch forwardor roll to the side.

The support structure itself offers no resistance at the back of thehead to neck extension, and when a person does push back the pressure onhis neck tends to relax him rather than setting off an extensor pattern.

The angle of the bent rods supporting the cylindrical pad rolls resultsin the rolls engaging the pectoral muscles of the chest at a comfortableangle. This same angle of the bent rods permits the quick and easyremoval of the pads from in front of the patient to an out of the wayposition.

While not specifically shown in the present drawings,

it is, of course, possible to mount the U-shaped neck pad 18 on thesupporting tilt blocks 16 and 17 in a manner to permit longitudinalforward and rearward movement. This particular adjustment is shown anddescribed in my co-pending application and is not repeated here as suchadjustment has been found not always to be essential.

From the foregoing description, it will thus be evident that the presentinvention has provided a greatly improved neck rest and shoulder supportstructure for afflicted children particularly those with cerebral palsy.

What is claimed is:

l. A neck rest and shoulder support structure for physically handicappedpatients including, in combination:

a. a frame positionable adjacent to the upper back and neck of a patientto be supported, said frame including a horizontal handle bar havingdownturned end portions defining generally vertical and parallel guiderods;

b. a U-shaped pad coupled to the frame for cradling the rear and sidesof the patient's neck;

c. a neck rest adjusting means enabling said U-shaped pad to bevertically, horizontally, and tiltably adjusted, said neck restadjusting means including a cross rod extending between the guide rodsand terminating in clamping blocks vertically slideable on said guiderods and including means for clamping the blocks in selective verticalpositions on the guide rods to thereby adjust the vertical distance ofthe cross rod; and right and left tilt blocks journaled on said crossrod and supporting said U- shaped neck pad therebetween; means forlocking the tilt blocks to the cross rod in a given tilted positionrelative to the rod as an axis, and in given horizontal positions alongthe rod;

d. right and left shoulder pad means coupled to the frame and extendingon the right and left sides of the patients lower neck portion over theshoulders, respectively, and thence downwardly and inwardly to gentlyengage the upper right and left chest areas of the patient to restrainhim from pitching forward,

e. shoulder support adjusting means enabling said right and leftshoulder pad means to be moved from in front of the patient to an openposition to permit a patient to be easily removed from his supportedposition, said shoulder support adjusting means including right and leftbent rods having inner ends journaled in said right and left tiltblocks, respectively, the outer ends of the rods supporting saidshoulder pad means in the form of enlarged, elongated right and leftcylindrically shaped padded rolls for engaging the said right and leftchest areas, rotation of the bent rods about their inner ends journaledin the tilt blocks swinging said padded rolls upwardly and outwardly tosaid open position.

2. A structure according to claim 1, in which the-tilt blocks and innerends of the bent rods include cooperating index means for holding thepadded rolls in either their chest-engaging positions or in said openposition.

1. A neck rest and shoulder support structure for physically handicappedpatients including, in combination: a. a frame positionable adjacent tothe upper back and neck of a patient to be supported, said frameincluding a horizontal handle bar having downturned end Portionsdefining generally vertical and parallel guide rods; b. a U-shaped padcoupled to the frame for cradling the rear and sides of the patient''sneck; c. a neck rest adjusting means enabling said U-shaped pad to bevertically, horizontally, and tiltably adjusted, said neck restadjusting means including a cross rod extending between the guide rodsand terminating in clamping blocks vertically slideable on said guiderods and including means for clamping the blocks in selective verticalpositions on the guide rods to thereby adjust the vertical distance ofthe cross rod; and right and left tilt blocks journaled on said crossrod and supporting said U-shaped neck pad therebetween; means forlocking the tilt blocks to the cross rod in a given tilted positionrelative to the rod as an axis, and in given horizontal positions alongthe rod; d. right and left shoulder pad means coupled to the frame andextending on the right and left sides of the patient''s lower neckportion over the shoulders, respectively, and thence downwardly andinwardly to gently engage the upper right and left chest areas of thepatient to restrain him from pitching forward, e. shoulder supportadjusting means enabling said right and left shoulder pad means to bemoved from in front of the patient to an open position to permit apatient to be easily removed from his supported position, said shouldersupport adjusting means including right and left bent rods having innerends journaled in said right and left tilt blocks, respectively, theouter ends of the rods supporting said shoulder pad means in the form ofenlarged, elongated right and left cylindrically shaped padded rolls forengaging the said right and left chest areas, rotation of the bent rodsabout their inner ends journaled in the tilt blocks swinging said paddedrolls upwardly and outwardly to said open position.
 2. A structureaccording to claim 1, in which the tilt blocks and inner ends of thebent rods include cooperating index means for holding the padded rollsin either their chest-engaging positions or in said open position.